Tulsa Police Boost Presence At Mall For ‘Operation Safe Shopper’

Tulsa Police are boosting their presence at busy shopping areas in the city during the holiday season. It's for Operation Safe Shopper, a program they've been doing for more than a decade.

Black Friday is one of the busiest times of the year for shopping. Tulsa Police said they want people to know they’re saturating the area, to help keep families safe.

Tulsa Police have been running Operation Safe Shopper for the last 13 years. Before it started, they said they were seeing a record numbers of car break-ins. They've only had one break-in since implementing the program.

"That's a record we want to keep going," TPD Sgt. Brian Collum said.

Collum is the head of the program. It doesn't just cover Woodland Hills Mall; officers are saturating a large stretch of stores on the 71st Street Corridor.

He said this year is a little different because of COVID-19 restrictions, but they're still seeing a lot of shoppers come out and Collum said they're trying to make them all feel safe.

"They're going to see a police officer at some point during their day here, and then they feel comfortable and safe to come shop here at the mall," Collum said.

Collum said they're coordinating with Tulsa County inside the mall. The county has surveillance towers and cameras overlooking parking lots.

"If people come out, they'll see officers on bikes, basically we just want to be a presence, we want the bad guys to not be, and we want the good guys to want to come shop here," Collum said.

Operation Safe Shopper continues through the rest of the holiday season and ends end the weekend after Christmas.